“Tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good,” the president said.

There has been some progress already, Obama said, saying that four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market — and the jobs that come with it. Just one example is Germany, which has invested heavily in solar energy and has succeeding in powering up to half the country at times in the past year.

That foreign leadership of greentech is starting to change.

“Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America,” Obama said.

President Obama

The technology industry has been leading the way. Google recently invested $200 million in a new wind energy project that brings the company’s total green power total to two gigawatts. Mobile rival Apple has also invested heavily in green energy, and CEO Tim Cook talked about its efforts today at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference

“I’m proud that we’re better at being environmentally friendly, and that we have the largest solar farm anywhere and can run our data center on renewable energy,” Cook said.

President Obama also wants to drive solar power, reduce the amount of power that is wasted by inefficient buildings.

Oil interests can take some comfort, perhaps in knowing that Obama also promised to “keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.”

Here’s the full text of Obama’s comments on greentech:

Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it.  We’ve begun to change that.  Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America.  So let’s generate even more.  Solar energy gets cheaper by the year – so let’s drive costs down even further.  As long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.

In the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence.  That’s why my Administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.  But I also want to work with this Congress to encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even cleaner and protects our air and water.

Indeed, much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together.  So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good.  If a non-partisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we.  Let’s take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long.  I’m also issuing a new goal for America: let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next twenty years.  The states with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings will receive federal support to help make it happen.

photo credits: andjohan via photopin cc, jmtimages via photopin cc

During Tuesday’s State of the Union addresses before Congress, President Obama repeatedly stressed the importance of new “research and technology.”

Arguably the overarching theme for tonight’s address was innovation: the President applauded Apple for its plans to manufacture Macs in America, referenced new technologies like 3D printing, and called for levels of research and development on par with the 1960s during the “Space Race.”

“Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing,” the President said. “If we want to make the best products, we also have to invest in the best ideas,” he continued.

There are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything….Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race.” (President Barack Obama, State of the Union ’13)

The State of the Union (#SOTU) address touched on a variety of important issues, including bi-partisanship and the relationship with Congress, alternative energy, the War, and gun control. But we pulled out the key moments that are most relevant to the tech community:

Teaching kids to code

The President said that our children aren’t being educated with the requisite skills to fill the high-tech jobs of the future. He stressed that schools that worked with employers and colleges to create classes focused on science, technology, engineering, and math, would be rewarded. Obama referenced schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, which collaborated with New York Public Schools, the City University of New York, and IBM, to ensure students graduated with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering.

Obama stressed that college is over-priced and out of reach for millions of students and families. He said that taxpayers could not subsidize the rising cost of higher-ed and asked that colleges do their part to keep costs down. He asked Congress to alter the Higher Education Act so that “affordability and value” determine which colleges receive federal aid.

Key quotes:

• Tonight, I’m announcing a new challenge to redesign America’s high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy.”
• “Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than seven dollars later on — by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime.”

The President’s proposed solutions: 

• Working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America.
• A new “College Scorecard” that parents and students can use to compare schools based on simple criteria: where they can get the most bang for your educational buck.

Encouraging foreign-born entrepreneurs

Obama stressed that immigration reform would help technology companies to attract skilled entrepreneurs and engineers to the U.S. He said that “real reform” involves cutting wait periods and reducing bureaucracy.

But commentators pointed out shortly after the speech that the President didn’t offer concrete solutions to this issue, beyond a vague call for “comprehensive immigration reform.”

Key quote:

• “Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months, and I will sign it right away.”
  

The President’s proposed solution:

• Comprehensive immigration reform and stronger border security.

Bolstering our cyber defenses

Obama said that America faces a growing threat from cyber attacks; “hackers” who are stealing people’s online identities and accessing sensitive information behind firewalls. The President referenced the executive order signed today that would strengthen cyber defenses through the development of a set of best practices.

The President stressed that we need to protect our infrastructure, especially with the recent rash of hacker attacks against major U.S. newspapers, banks and federal agencies. Just a few weeks ago, the Washington Post joined the growing list of publications whose computers were penetrated by Chinese hackers.

Key quotes:

• “We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our air traffic control systems.
• “We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.”

The President’s proposed solution: 

• Obama called for Congress to pass legislation to give government “greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks.”

The indomitable rise of healthcare-technology

The President was particularly strong when making an appeal for affordable healthcare. He repeatedly referenced the Affordable Care Act, and said that one of the biggest drivers of long-term debt is the rising cost of healthcare for the aging population.

Med-tech entrepreneurship received a boost last year when Todd Park, cofounder of Athenahealth and Castlight was was promoted from CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services to CTO of the United States. Already, Park has been instrumental in launching a Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which invites innovators from outside government to work with the powers that be to solve socio-economic problems, particularly those facing health providers and hospitals.

On the topic of Medicaid, Obama proposed reforms that would “achieve the same amount of healthcare savings by the beginning of the next decade as the reforms proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission.”

Key quote: 

• “Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of healthcare costs.”

The President’s proposed solution: 

• Obama proposed reducing taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and asking more from the wealthiest seniors. He said medical bills shouldn’t be based on the number of tests ordered or days spent in the hospital — “they should be based on the quality of care that our seniors receive.”

Read the full text of the State of the Union address here. 

To say it was a busy week in technology and gadget news is a bit of an understatement.

The four-day work week was jam-packed with a smattering of smartphone, e-reader, and tablet press events and revelations. If that wasn’t enough, Y Combinator picked a bit of a fight with a onetime friend. Oh and that monstrous Facebook-Instagram deal finally closed. It’s about darn time!

In all the chaos, we didn’t get to a few bits of news, some juicy rumors, and an Apple leak or two. Here are our picks for stories that you should totally Pocket or Instapaper (yes, we just used these services as verbs) for your weekend reading.

New iPods, yo!

Apple has a whole lot more to show off Wednesday than a brand new iPhone. Sources told 9to5Mac that the company will also unveil new iPods in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Expect a new iPod shuffle in eight different colors (perhaps that explains Apple’s rainbow event decor), a new, possibly taller iPod nano (also in eight colors), and two redesigned iPod touches at high price points.

Get the tissues out, Twitter for Mac is on the chopping block

The word on the street, according to blogger-turned-investor MG Siegler, is that Twitter has made the decision to stop supporting Twitter for Mac.

“They won’t kill it outright, but no further updates,” Siegler tweeted on Thursday.

Mr. Siegler’s tweet hit a nerve with Twitterers. The tweet was retweeted 703 times and favorited by 97 folks.

For what it’s worth, blogger John Gruber said he too has heard the same sad whispers. “Worst part is, they may even have a retina-ready update ready to release — but they’re just going to keep it in their pocket out of spite. They want people to use the website,” Gruber wrote today.

Based on what we’ve heard from a few friends, these rumors are pretty legit. Twitter, however, has yet to comment on the matter.

We totally get that Twitter wants to drive people to the web app to rake in the big bucks from advertisers, but yea, it really is the end of an era.

Obama wins in race for most tweets per minute

The President knows how to get your Twitter juices flowing. Barack Obama generated 52,000 tweets per minute during his address at the Democratic National Convention. Mitt Romney’s speech didn’t get quite the same response. The Republican nominee generated 14,000 tweets per minute.

It’s probably worth noting that 67 percent of the Twitter conversations related to Obama’s address were positive, according to data compiled by social media analytics firm Crimson Hexagon.

Google refuses to help feds unlock pimp’s phone

Remember when we told you that the FBI was trying to force Google into unlocking an alleged pimp’s cellphone? Of course, how could anyone forget such a story? Well, it turns out that Google ignored the warrant and refused the request. Sorry, no pimp data for you, FBI.

Google’s decision sparked a story in the Wall Street Journal about the muddy legal standards associated with third-parties unlocking smartphones on behalf of the government. Basically, it’s one hairy mess.

If the feds can’t get into a suspect’s phone they’ll turn to software makers for help, and sometimes they’ll come with a warrant. Whether the law actually requires companies such as Google and Apple to comply with these warrants isn’t all that clear.

Kindle Fire HD burns Google

Amazon stepped on a lot of toes when it revealed its Kindle Fire HD, but Google got the double rub. Not only will the Kindle Fire HD go head-to-head to with Google’s Nexus 7, but the device will also direct mobile searchers to Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Burn.

We picked up a Kindle Fire HD on Wednesday and noticed that our web queries defaulted to Bing’s search engine. We found this to be quite curious indeed, and it turns out that our Binging experience was no accident at all.

AllThings D confirmed with Amazon that Bing is the search engine of record for the Kindle Fire HD.

Photo credits: Kevin Rose/Instagram, Crimson Hexagon, DavidDennisPhotos.com/Flickr

A piece of legislation designed to make crowdfunding a legal option for startups will be passed into law as President Barack Obama plans to sign the JOBS Act Thursday, VentureBeat has confirmed.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act has already successfully made its way through the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, with some modifications, and will allow startups raising $1 million or less to let regular Joes and Janes (read: non-accredited investors) purchase a limited amount of equity in their nascent businesses via approved portals.

The legislation also eliminates the 500-sharehoulder rule, meaning that startups can wait longer before needing to publicly report financial data to the SEC and hold off on forced public offerings.

“On Thursday, the President will sign the Jobs Act,” press deputy secretary Josh Earnest said in a press gaggle on Friday.

News of the JOBS Act imminent approval started spreading on Twitter Saturday afternoon when Aol co-founder, Revolution CEO, and JOBS Act proponent Steve Case tweeted the revelation.

The entrepreneur-friendly initiative flew through the Senate with a 73 to 26 passing vote, and the revised law passed in the House with a 380 to 41 overwhelming majority. The legislation, popular with Democratic and Republican political parties alike, was already known to be supported by the White House and President Obama.

“The JOBS Act will help revitalize an IPO market that has suffered in recent years under the weight of market volatility and one-size-fits-all regulation,” Highland Capital general partner and National Venture Capital Association chair Paul Maeder said in a previous statement. “The passage of this legislation sends a strong and welcome signal to our most promising companies that the U.S. capital markets system is open for business.”

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One of several Obama-related tweets in the early morning hours of July 4 read:

“BREAKING NEWS: President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It’s a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP”

The hack highlights the continuing problem of online security for individuals and businesses from hackers that attack using all kinds of methods. The now-defunct hacking group LulzSec and active hacking collective Anonymous have made headlines during the last few months with attacks on U.S. Senate, CIA, Sony’s PlayStation Network, and games like Minecraft and EVE Online.

The hacking group Script Kiddies, which purportedly desires to work with Anonymous, claimed responsibility for the hack to Stony Brook University’s Think Magazine. “We are looking to find information about corporations to assist with antisec,” a Script Kiddies representative told Think Magazine. “Fox News was selected because we figured their security would be just as much of a joke as their reporting.”

Not only does the hack suggest that Fox News may not have selected a strong enough password for its Twitter account, it also means Twitter’s security process may not be robust enough.

“We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” said Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital, in a statement.

The Fox News Politics’ series of alarming tweets can be read below: